Cursed
by evilqueenmayor731
Summary: It's been several days since Emma brought Robin's wife to Storybrooke. After waiting and receiving no word from him, Regina makes a decision about her future, and it involves finding and using the curse that Zelena took from her. But who will she use it on, and why? (M rating applies to chapter 7 only. All other chapters are K.)
1. Chapter 1

Late afternoon sunlight trickled through the windows, casting long shadows on the hardwood floors of the entryway of Regina's home. She stood at the base of the stairs, looking up, one hand on the bannister. She wore her red dress - the one she'd worn when she defeated Zelena - because it reminded her of the person she was trying to become. She wore little makeup other than red lips to match the dress, and her hair, combed back, showed signs of needing a good wash.

"Don't forget your toothbrush!" she called just before the doorbell rang, her voice raspy and weaker than normal. Her high heels struck a strong cadence as she descended the final steps to the door. She opened it to reveal Emma, clad in her usual jeans and red jacket, her sheriff's badge clipped to her belt, with a hesitant look on her face, as if she still expected Regina to try and rip her heart out at any moment. Regina motioned for her to come in with a roll of her eyes, and closed the door behind her.

"Thanks for letting me have Henry for the weekend," Emma said, her voice soft and sincere. She couldn't believe Regina had agreed to it in the first place. After what had happened at Granny's, Emma thought Regina would turn back into the bitch she'd met when Henry first brought her to town.

"Just because you destroyed my second chance at happiness doesn't mean I would make Henry suffer because of it. He wanted to spend the weekend with you and his grandparents, despite my warnings regarding the sleeping habits of infants." Regina's voice is cold but not threatening. It had been three days since Emma had brought Robin's wife back from the past. Three days since Regina had seen or spoken to him. Three days that she'd endured her heart breaking all over again. She'd barely slept and had eaten little, and it was starting to show in the dark circles under her eyes. "I can hardly blame him. I haven't exactly been good company lately."

Henry thundered down the stairs as if on cue, his backpack over his shoulder, an overnight bag in his hand. He joined his two mothers, and Regina pulled him into a tight hug. He looked to the side and caught Emma's eye, his expression showing confusion at the enthusiasm of the gesture.

"It's only a couple of days, Mom," he said, his voice slightly muffled by her shoulder.

"I know." She released him only to take his face in her hands and look down at him. It was not lost on her that the last time she'd given her son to Emma, she hadn't seen him again for over a year – and he'd forgotten that she even existed. "I love you, Henry. Never forget that."

"I won't. I love you too," he replied as he pulled out of her grasp. He opened the front door and trotted down the sidewalk toward the yellow Beetle parked at the curb.

"We'll see you first thing Monday morning," Emma said, wondering exactly why Regina had tears in her eyes. It wasn't as if they were being permanently separated again. It was only a weekend. Under other circumstances she would have asked Regina if she were alright, but Emma already knew the answer to that question. Regina was not alright, and wouldn't be for a while, and it was Emma's fault. Regina had been right in what she'd said at the diner - she had not stopped and fully evaluated the potential repercussions of her actions. Killian had tried to tell her not to do it, but she hadn't listened, and because of it Regina was suffering. Emma hoped that she knew it had not been an act done intentionally to hurt her.

"Make sure he does his homework," she says, her voice audibly shaking. Emma nodded and followed Henry out the door, where he was already waiting in the car. Regina closed the door and spun around to lean back against it. She exhaled a long, slow breath before disappearing in a puff of purple smoke.

She reappeared in a similar cloud, this time in the attic of the farmhouse Zelena had recently occupied. Regina's eyes traveled around the room, over the furniture and across the floor, searching for a particular item that belonged to her.

"If I were an insanely jealous psychopath, where would I hide what I didn't want my enemies to find?" she asked the empty room. She started with the wardrobe. She opened the doors wide and pushed the clothes to the left, then the right, feeling the back wall and bottom for hidden compartments. Looking up, a black dress with sparkling collar caught her eye.

"I wondered where that went," she muttered before closing the doors. It wasn't there. Next came the trunk, sadly empty. All that was left was the dressing table. With each passing moment without success Regina grew more and more enraged. She yanked the drawers out and shook their contents onto the floor. Baubles, trinkets, garbage of no use to her hit the floor and scattered. She tossed the last one across the room and slammed her hands down on the table, looking at her reflection in the shaking mirror. Breathing heavily, cheeks flushed from her efforts, Regina's eyes traveled downward and a slow smile began to spread across her lips. A vase filled with flowers, now withered and bent with age and neglect, sat atop the table. She reached in between the dead blooms and pulled out what looked like a finely ornamented stick - a hairpin, to be exact.

Her smile now one of triumph, her other hand passed over the pin and it glowed a soft purple for a brief second, showing her that the curse she'd placed on it over a year prior was still potent. Nobody knew about the curse except her and the one man she never expected to see again. There would be no one to stop her from using it this time.


	2. Chapter 2

"Mom, I'm home," Henry called, leaving the door open behind him as he dropped his overnight back on the floor and disappeared in the direction of the living room, his backpack on his shoulders.

Emma followed, a to-go cup brimming with hot chocolate from Granny's in her hand. Emma climbed the four entryway stairs into the foyer and an envelope leaning against the vase on the console caught her eye. Stepping closer, she saw her name written on it in Regina's unmistakable script. She was about to pick it up when Henry reappeared. She spun around and, behind her back, folded the envelope in half and tucked it into her back pocket.

"She's not here," he said, his expression one of confusion, his voice filled with worry. He'd had a great weekend, even with Neal crying every couple of hours. He loved having a big family, one that seemed to be growing every day. First his Uncle Neal, now Emma was dating Killian, who Henry thought would be the coolest dad in history.

Still, he was worried about his mom. He'd done his best to try and cheer her up, but he just didn't know how. Reminding her that he loved her felt inadequate. After a couple days of watching her melancholy, he simply couldn't take it any more. He was just a kid, after all. He'd asked to stay with his grandparents and felt guilty while doing it. He had hoped that by the time he came back, Robin would have called or come over and they would have worked everything out. Henry was certain that Robin loved her, it was written on his face every time they were together. Henry had even told her so. She had nodded and tried to smile but he could see she wasn't sure anymore.

Considering Regina's tearful goodbye a few days prior and the envelope she'd hurriedly shoved into her pocket, her absence was a definite red flag to Emma. "You check her room?" she asked.

He shook his head and headed up the stairs to the second floor. Once he was out of sight Emma pulled the envelope back out and opened it. Inside was a letter that left Emma with a very, very bad feeling.

_Miss Swan:_

_After much deliberation, it has become clear to me that there is only one course of action left for me to take. I have spent most of my life in search of my happy ending, and in the process I have destroyed the happiness of others, taken countless lives, and blackened my heart beyond redemption. Happiness is not just something I will never have, but something that I do not deserve._

_I have learned that true love means putting the happiness of others before your own. So while there is no happy ending in the cards for me, that doesn't mean I can't give one to everyone else, starting with the citizens of Storybrooke. As long as I am alive they will never rest easy. Every time they look at me, I see doubt and fear that I will return to my old ways. Without me here everyone will be free to live their lives without the shadow of the Evil Queen upon them. _

_For Robin, my departure will give him the freedom to be with his family. I thought for a time that he was my second chance, but you brought back to him his first love – his true love. With me gone, there will be no conflict. There will be no choice for him to make, and no chance for regret or broken hearts. That is my gift to him – a clear conscience and a life filled with love. Please tell him that._

_As for you, I leave you the most precious of gifts – Henry. I used to think that loving someone meant holding onto them so tightly that they could never leave you. Having Henry in my life has taught me that true love means trusting enough to let the other person go. My love for him broke the second curse, and it is because of that love that I am admitting that he will be better off without me. I know that you and his grandparents can give him something that I never could – a family. You have always protected him, even from me. I know you will continue to do so after I am gone._

_I have many regrets, but this will not be one of them. I am choosing the right path instead of the easy one._

_Sincerely,_

_Regina_

Emma's hands were shaking by the time she finished reading. The letter held such a tone of finality, it could only mean one thing, though she didn't want to believe it. Dread mixed with guilt inside her stomach. Neither combined well with the sickly sweetness of her hot chocolate.

"She's not here either," Henry said from over the bannister. Emma quickly folded the letter and shoved it and the envelope into her inside jacket pocket. "What's that?" Henry asked as he descended the stairs.

"Nothing. Look, maybe she just got called in to work early. Tell you what, I'll drop you off at school and then stop by her office. I'm sure that's where she is." Emma hoped that she sounded convincing. She hated lying to her son. From the expression on his face, he wasn't buying it.

"She would have called." It was a truth with which Emma could not argue. She had her suspicions but she certainly wasn't about to share those with Henry. They would only scare him.

"I don't know where she is, but I promise you I'm going to find out." She ushered him back out the door they'd just come through, hoping to god that she was wrong, and that Regina was still alive.


	3. Chapter 3

An hour later, Emma was sitting on the couch in Archie's office, one leg bouncing up and down. She'd pulled her long blonde curls back into a low ponytail, making it easy for him to see the unease in her eyes. Archie did his best to remain calm, his voice soft and soothing, as she was obviously agitated.

"What can I do for you, Emma?" he asked.

"I need your help with something," Emma replied, her tone much more serious than his. "But I need you to swear to me not a word of this gets out. You know how quickly gossip spins out of control around here."

He nodded, his face reflecting curious concern. "Of course, anything you tell me will be kept strictly confidential." She took a deep breath and willed her leg to stop moving.

"When was the last time you talked to Regina?" she asked, as she pulled Regina's letter out of her pocket. He looked at it, then up to Emma's eyes. Emma being concerned about Regina was not a good sign.

"Not since before the surprise appearance of Robin's wife. I've been trying to contact her but she won't answer my calls." Archie knew better than anyone how hard Regina was trying to be a good person and not to slip back into abusing magic. He had legitimate concerns that the disruption of her budding relationship with Robin would deal a serious blow to her progress.

Eyes down, Emma turned the letter over in her hands several times, then handed it to him. "When I went to drop Henry off at home this morning she wasn't there. But this was." She rose and walked behind the couch, where she paced while he read the note. "I just went to her office and she's not there either - but I did find her cell phone. She hasn't made or answered a single call since Friday night."

As Archie finished the letter, his expression grew dark. "What do you think this means?" he asked, wanting Emma's opinion before sharing his own.

She shrugged one shoulder. "I think it's pretty obvious what it means. But it doesn't make any sense. Regina's a fighter; a survivor. There's no way she would ever off herself." She'd fought tooth and nail to keep the curse intact, to get Henry back – first from her and then from Pan– to keep everything she felt was hers. She would never let Marian come between her and Robin. The note had to be a trick aimed at making her suffer for bringing Marian back from the past.

"I'm not so sure," Archie replied as he sat down in his chair, slowly folding the letter back into a square. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but considering the circumstances… Regina and I spoke at length about her desire to change. It seems to me that she decided the best way for her to stop being selfish and to put everyone else first was to remove herself from the world. Taking her own life could have seemed to her the ultimate act of selflessness. The culmination of her redemption."

His heart felt heavy in his chest when he thought about it. If only she had come to see him, he could have shown her that there were other options. Less permanent options. But in another, smaller way, he was proud of her. He hadn't thought her capable of completely ignoring her wants and desires in favor of someone else's. She had been obsessed with finding her happy ending for so long, he'd worried for her and her ability to focus on Henry instead. Whether or not she was correct in her actions, it appeared she had tried to think of his well-being - and that of the entire town - before her own desire to live.

"Suicide? Selfless? Are you kidding me?" Emma asked, incredulous. Suicide was the most selfish act there was, in her opinion. She figured Regina had just tried to spin her motivations to make herself look good.

"I know it seems strange," Archie replied, standing to return the letter to Emma. "But when you consider Regina's history, I can see how that would have made sense to her. She has been in a lot of pain for a very long time, Emma. For most of her life she funneled that pain into a dark place, and it led her to do unspeakable things to others. I think we should all be grateful that this time, if she has indeed taken her own life, the only person she's hurt is herself."

Emma shook her head. She couldn't disagree with him more. "No. No way. This will crush Henry. He just lost his dad for the _second_ time. If she's dead too I don't know if he could handle it. I promised him that I'd find her, and you know her better than just about anyone. There's only one place I can think of where she'd go, if she was really going to kill herself."

Archie nodded and rose from his chair without hesitation. He picked up his umbrella from its resting spot next to the door. He wasn't about to let Emma go alone into what could be a devastating scene. She didn't have to tell him that she felt guilty for her involvement in the Robin/Marian debacle. Being perceptive was part of why he was so good at his job.

"Her family crypt?" It was part question, but mostly just giving voice to what they both knew was the answer.

Emma's reply was a curt nod. "Let's go."


	4. Chapter 4

As they descended the stairs into Regina's vault, Emma and Archie found it well-lit despite being underground. Regina had done some redecorating since the last time Emma had been there. Sconces filled with candles lined the walls. With each step they took into the room, more lit of their own accord, filling the room with soft, flickering light. All of the trunks were neatly packed and moved against the wall. There was nothing strewn about - no parchment, no empty bottles. The room seemed almost bare in comparison to its prior state. Light flickered in a room to her right and Emma moved in that direction, past the wall where Regina stored hearts, into a small room made of marble.

The room was empty save for a marble slab roughly larger than the dimensions of a coffin. Neither of them knew it, but Dr. Whale could have told them that it was the same slab upon which Regina's beloved Daniel had laid for so many years. Now it had a new occupant.

Upon it was Regina, lying on her back, one arm neatly folded across her midsection, the other lying at her side. The marble was draped with black fabric, and her head rested upon a red satin pillow. For all of the elaborate gowns that she owned, Regina had chosen to take her final rest in a simple black sheath dress and black pumps. As they drew closer, Emma saw that Regina's hand rested upon a small, folded, pale blue blanket. Across the corner, 'Henry' was embroidered in dark blue thread that was faded and beginning to fray.

"Is that...?"

Archie nodded. "Henry's baby blanket." He moved around the other side of the body and gently laid two fingers on her neck to check for a pulse. He thought back on his relationship with Regina, both the good and the bad. She'd been a horrible person - she'd manipulated him, blackmailed him, threatened him. Yet she had trusted him with her son's mental health, and eventually her own. He had seen her change. She had grown and blossomed like a flower that has been kept out of the sun for too long and has finally been given the precious light it needs to flourish. To now see that promise extinguished brought tears to his eyes. If only she had come to him first.

Pinned to the breast of Regina's dress, just over her heart, was a brooch in the shape of a bird holding an arrow in its talons. Light grey feathers, orange breast, the arrow with green detailing on the fletching. Archie smiled sadly and called Emma's attention to it.

"A robin," he said, then shook his head indicating he'd found no pulse. Emma was rooted to where she was standing, unable to take her eyes off of Regina's pale, white skin. She really was dead. She watched her chest intently, convinced that any moment it would begin to rise and fall again. It did not move. She felt as if she might be sick.

"Dammit, Regina." She shook her head, as if denying it would make it untrue.

"This is my fault," she said as she blinked back tears. "She was right, I didn't think about the consequences of what I was doing. I just wanted to save an innocent woman." She looked to Archie for understanding, for forgiveness - for an absolution that only the dead woman lying between them could give.

"You don't know that," he said as he moved to come around to her side. "If she really did this for the reasons in her letter, it might have happened even if you hadn't brought Marian from the past."

His words felt empty. Regina had been happy, happier than Emma had ever seen her, until she'd ruined it. No matter what she'd written in her letter, Emma had seen Regina's heart breaking right in front of her eyes at Granny's. It must have been the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back – the final blow that had rendered even the most resilient heart irreparable.

"What do I tell Henry? The poor kid's been through enough." Just thinking about it made her feel nauseous again. She could imagine him crumbling in front of her, or worse, blaming her. He'd be angry with her. She wouldn't be surprised if he never forgave her. She remembered what it had been like when he'd learned that she had lied to him about Neal. This would be infinitely worse.

"You tell him what she said in her letter." Archie believed that Regina's letter was sincere, and that Henry would too. "That she sacrificed herself so that he could have a good life. The life she thought he wanted."

Emma felt trapped in a horrible nightmare, praying that she'd wake up any moment. She looked again at the woman who had been her adversary for so long. There had been times Emma had hated her with every fiber of her being. She'd called her a monster, physically attacked her - but even then, she hadn't wished for this. She found it strange how death could reduce someone so formidable down to such a fragile-looking creature. Her wrists were small, bird-like, brittle enough to be broken with a hard squeeze. Had she always been so thin? It seemed impossible.

She began to move closer to Regina's body and the toe of her shoe kicked something that clattered across the floor and into the base of the slab. Emma bent down and picked it up, brow furrowed in confusion and curiosity. Looking around, there was nothing else lying on the floor in the entire vault. Just this one, small item.

"What is that?" Archie asked, and Emma held it out so he could see it.

"It looks like a hairpin, but I've never seen her wear anything like it. And how'd it end up on the floor?" The vault was carefully staged. Everything in the room held significance for Regina - the blanket, the robin pin. What could possibly have been so important about a hairpin? It seemed unlikely that she'd overlooked it while making her preparations.

"I've seen one like it before. She wore them often when she was the Evil Queen." As for how it had ended up there, he could only shrug, clueless. "Perhaps Robin or Henry would know if it held some significance for her." Emma nodded and tucked it into her pocket.

"Why don't we tell Robin first?" Archie asked, feeling that staying any longer in the vault would only serve to make Emma feel worse. "It'll give you some time, and Henry can finish his day at school."

Emma nodded. It was a good idea. Except for the 'we' part.

"I appreciate your help, Archie, but I have to do this alone. She left that letter for me. She wanted me to find her, and she wanted me to be the one to tell Robin about it. She trusted me. Or maybe she saw it as some kind of punishment, I don't know. Whatever her reasons, I'm gonna honor her wishes. I owe her that much."

Archie could see that there was no point in arguing with her. He simply put a hand on her shoulder and handed her his umbrella. She was headed for the woods, and you never know when it might rain.


	5. Chapter 5

Robin and Marian walked through the forest hand in hand, alone save for the birds chirping in the trees overhead. The sky was gray and threatening to rain. He'd searched for the right time to have this conversation, and had finally concluded that there would never be one - he would have to make the time. At first having her back had been overwhelming, his insides a maelstrom of joy and relief and even anger. The burden of guilt he'd carried since her death had been blessedly lifted, and for that he would always be grateful to Emma Swan. But why now, he'd asked himself. His earlier comment to Regina about timing haunted him over the ensuing days. Watching Marian with their son had made the situation infinitely more painful. To choose her would be opening old wounds; to choose Regina would inflict new ones.

Regardless of the need for the choice, Marian deserved to know that a choice did indeed have to be made. And so he'd pulled her aside after breakfast and asked her to walk with him.

Even after the time they'd spent apart, Marian knew her husband like the back of her own hand. He had been troubled since their reunion. Often preoccupied with his own thoughts, she frequently had to say his name more than once to get his attention. She did not know what was causing him so much turmoil, and in the end she chose to trust that he would share when he was ready. In the meantime she delighted in getting to know their son, who had still been an infant when she'd seen him last. He was funny and sweet, and rarely went anywhere without his grey stuffed monkey, whom he called Regina. It seemed an odd name for a monkey.

The silence was palpable, and once they'd reached a significant distance from the camp she stopped him as they walked, pulling him around to face her.

"Would it be easier if you said it really fast?" she asked, wishing that he would just get it over with. He sighed and shook his head, and she wasn't surprised. He had never been the type to rush through anything. He was a plotter and a planner, always meticulous and thorough.

"Marian," he started. "Has anyone explained to you about the curses? Especially the first one?"

She nodded. "Yes, Little John did." As her husband's best friend, Marian was very close to John. She trusted him implicitly. So when he had offered to catch her up on the events that occurred after their separation, and then what would have followed if she had not been moved in time, she had accepted all he had to tell without a trace of doubt as to its veracity. She was still trying to work through in her mind all of the implications of what he'd told her.

He was relieved that he didn't have to recount that, at least. "Then you understand that, while for you it has only been a short while since we were separated, for me it has been closer to thirty years?"

Again, she nodded. She was beginning to see where he might be going, as her own mind had already been there many times. She held tightly to his hand, a sense of dread overcoming her that if she let it go, she may never hold it again.

"When I lost you, I thought my world had ended. I blamed myself for your death, and for a long time I couldn't even look at our son without the guilt crashing down on me." Thanks to Little John, he hadn't had to worry about Roland being cared for. He'd been lost in his grief and guilt for so long that by the time he emerged, Roland had begun to walk and talk.

"Slowly I came out of it. I had to, for Roland's sake. Then the curse hit, and while we were in the corner of the kingdom that was protected from it, time stood still for us as well. So decades passed and while we didn't age on the outside, inside my heart healed. I was able to forgive myself, say goodbye to you and to move on." Those times had been so confusing, but he was grateful that he'd had so long under the curse. He'd needed that time to recover.

"What are you trying to tell me?" Marian asked, when in his eyes she already saw the answer. He took her other hand in his, squeezing them both tightly. There was no going back.

"Robin!" A voice called, interrupting them. Their heads turned to see Emma walked up the trail, jacket unzipped, one hand in her pocket, the other carrying an umbrella. Archie's umbrella.

"Emma!" Marian called, pulling her hands out of her husband's to greet her friend and savior. "What are you doing out here so early?"

"I need to talk to Robin." Emma knew that telling him about Regina would be difficult and not just for her. He deserved to at least hear the news in privacy, without having to worry about his wife's reaction to his reaction. "Confidential police business."

"Oh. I see," Marian said, when she didn't see in the least. Robin did not have to steal in this realm, so what business could the sheriff have with him? "I'll just be down the way if you need me," she said to him before walking up the trail, far enough to be out of earshot, but close enough to be called back if needed. As much as she wanted to know, she respected both her husband and her new friend too much to eavesdrop. Besides, Robin didn't keep secrets from her. Whatever transpired, he would tell her later.

Robin shared Marian's confusion, and the look on Emma's face made him uneasy. He didn't know her well, but her expression was one he wouldn't like to see on anyone. It had bad news written all over it.

Emma's fingers ran over the hairpin in her pocket, feeling the need to fidget with something. She spun it around, wishing that it could speak for her.

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna spit it out." She took a deep breath. "Regina's dead."

Robin felt as if all of the air had been sucked out of his lungs, and his throat had been replaced with a brick that had fallen into his stomach. He stared at Emma, blinking hard, as her words bounced around in his mind like echoes through a canyon.

Regina was dead. He would never see her again. He would never hear the velvety softness of her voice, or touch the smooth skin of her cheek. The last kiss they'd shared replayed in his mind like one of the movies Henry had told him about. He could feel her lips on his, see the happiness in her eyes. He would never see it again.

He took a step backwards and stumbled over a fallen branch. He reached out and steadied himself against the tree that had shed the branch as the world spun out of control around him. He leaned forward to try and catch his breath. He was winded, as if he'd been running from the Sheriff of Nottingham. Emma stood and waited, feeling extremely awkward. She leaned on Archie's umbrella and felt as if he were there holding her up, supporting her. It made the moment a tiny bit easier to handle.

"How?" he asked, tears threatening to fall at any second.

"She killed herself. I'm so sorry, Robin." What other way was there to say it? No matter the words, the reality they held was the same.

Robin heard the words she'd spoken, but they made no sense. She might as well have told him that the sky was pink, or that arrows flew in circles. Regina, kill herself? Those words did not go together. He shook his head.

"No, that's not possible. She would never do that." She had the most resilient heart, didn't that mean that nothing would ever drag her so low she would consider taking her own life?

"I saw her myself. Doctor Hopper was with me, and he made sure. She's definitely gone."

_It's my fault_, he thought, and Emma saw the anguish ripple across his face. He leaned his back against the tree and slid down to the ground. It was happening all over again. First Marian, now Regina.

_I waited too long_, he thought. She's been alone, waiting for me to contact her, and I've been sitting here in the forest like a coward, unable to act. He'd thought that Marian was the fragile one, the one he had to worry about. Regina was vulnerable, yes, he'd seen that many times, but underneath it all ran an unshakable strength like bedrock. He'd grossly misjudged, and she had paid the price for it with her life.

"She left a note. She wanted you to know that she did it to make things easier for you. So you could have your family and be happy, and not have to worry about hurting anybody." Emma's fingers twisted over the pin again, and she let go of the umbrella just long enough to tuck a stray hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear. If Regina had wanted her to suffer by being the one to deliver this news, it was definitely working. She knew that Henry's reaction would be even worse than Robin's.

Robin blinked, and the tears dropped. She had sacrificed herself so that he could have happiness with his wife and son. The knife his guilt had thrust into his heart twisted painfully. He turned his eyes to the sky just as the heavens let loose. Emma opened the umbrella and knelt down to hold it over both of them.

"I know this is a lot to handle, but there's one thing I need to ask you," she said, and pulled the hairpin out of her pocket. "This on the floor where I found her. Do you recognize it? Do you know what it means?"

He looked at the ornament in her hand and recognition sparked a memory to life. That night in the Enchanted Forest. Regina's grief. Her determination to avoid it at all costs. His expression changed from forlorn to cautiously optimistic.

"Yes, I do," he said, taking it from her and regaining his feet. "It means she's not dead."

Emma sighed and shook her head. "I told you, I saw her with my own eyes," she said.

"Then you know where she is," he replied. "You can take me to her, and I'll prove to you that I'm right."

"Right about what?" Marian asked as she ducked under the umbrella. When the rain had started she'd turned back to rejoin Robin and Emma and return to the safety of the camp. Neither Robin nor Emma had noticed her. She saw the light reflecting from his cheeks in an obvious trail from his eyes. Those weren't raindrops, they were tears.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "What's happened?" Emma coughed and left it to Robin to answer.

"It's nothing to worry about, but I need to go with Emma right now." Just as suddenly as the rain had started it stopped, and Robin thanked the weather gods for sparing him from having to walk Marian back to camp.

"Can you find your way back?" he asked. He was anxious to get going. Every moment that he was delayed from getting to Regina was another moment she spent in the darkness.

Marian nodded, and the mysterious nature of their conversation combined with the feeling she'd had just before she and Robin had been interrupted to make the seed of doubt take root. Much time had passed for him, and what she had seen in his eyes earlier had said to her that things had changed. He had changed. She didn't want to think that he would change so much as to lie to her, but she had to consider the possibility.

As he and Emma disappeared over the ridge, she resolved to follow them. Years of living in the forest as a bandit served her well in trailing them as they left the woods and headed into town.


	6. Chapter 6

Robin took the stairs leading down into the crypt two at a time. Emma struggled to keep up with him, the protective instinct in her wanting to tell him to be careful, but all she had to do was remember Neal dying in her arms to keep her lips closed. Nothing could have kept her from him, so who was she to tell Robin to slow down?

If he had not known the truth, he would have broken down when he first laid eyes upon her. The curse had done nothing to diminish her beauty; in fact, it had enhanced it. There was no anger or hurt or fear in her features, only peace. He immediately recognized her dress as the one she'd worn during their afternoon in front of the fire. It felt like a lifetime ago, not just a couple of days. He rushed to her side and looked down at her before touching her cheek with his fingertips. She was as cold as ice and white as snow. He understood why Emma had assumed she was dead. Anyone who didn't know about the curse would have thought the same.

He turned Regina's hands over and, finding what he'd known would be there, lifted the one that had been resting on Henry's blanket to show Emma the small red dot on her index finger.

"The first time I met Regina, she had just lost Henry forever," he said. "She was heartbroken. She made a sleeping curse to use on herself.. She told me it was the only way she could survive losing the one person who could possibly wake her from it. But the Wicked Witch stole it from her before she could use it. After that, she made it her goal to destroy Zelena, and I hoped she'd forgotten about the curse."

He softly kissed Regina's palm and laid her hand back down. Candlelight caught in the pin over her heart, and a sound not unlike what a wounded animal would make ripped from his throat. A robin, guarding her heart, just as he had done. Laden with the knowledge of what had happened to her first love, he could see just how difficult it must have been for her to trust him with it. She had literally laid her life in his hands that night. As his eyes roamed over her frozen features, he felt the weight of that trust on his shoulders. It was one that he wanted to carry. He imagined her heart as an animal, a lion to match the one on his arm. Few got to see the kitten underneath the teeth and the roar. Caring for her was an honor he would gladly spend the rest of his life proving that he was worthy of.

Emma digested his story. It was hard for her to imagine Regina wanting to curse herself. She'd known that she loved Henry and would do anything for him, but she would rather be trapped in an eternal nether-realm rather than deal with losing him? That was entirely next level. Even as a foster child Emma had never considered anything that drastic.

"So she told you that the only way to break a sleeping curse is with true love's kiss?" Emma asked. He wouldn't be there if he didn't think he could do it, obviously. She had to assume he knew that true love strong enough to break a curse has to come from both sides, from both people. Otherwise what he was about to attempt would fail, and they would both have to live with their guilt and regret. And she would still have to tell Henry.

"Yes, she did," he replied. He looked down at Regina again, the beautiful woman that he loved. She once said that her son was her only true love. They'd never exchanged the words, but he had felt them in her kisses, in her caresses, in the way she held his hand. Tinkerbell had told Regina that she was destined to be with him. It was his turn to show her that their time to be together had finally come.

He couldn't bear to see her lifeless for a moment longer. He closed his eyes and pressed his lips to hers, willing the love he felt for her to fill his entire being. _Wake, my love. Come back to me._

A wave of energy radiated out from them in a circle, flowing through Emma and out of the room. Marian, hiding just outside the doorway, covered her mouth with her hand to keep from audibly gasping. So this was what he had been wrestling with. He'd fallen for another – the very woman who had sentenced her to death. First the Evil Queen had taken her freedom, and would have taken her life - now she was taking her husband.

His face was mere millimeters from Regina's when her lips parted and she drew a breath. Her eyelids flew open, and as she exhaled her fingers flexed in his grip. So close, she could see only his eyes, but she immediately knew who it was who had broken the curse.

"You woke me," she said with surprise but not disappointment. "How did you know?"

He held up the hairpin for her to see. "Did you honestly think I wouldn't recognize this?" he asked.

It wasn't about recognition - he was never supposed to see it in the first place. "How did you find it?" she asked.

"I did," Emma said, and Regina's head turned to the sound of the voice. "You must have dropped it."

Regina looked back at Robin and reached up to gently cup his cheek. She had missed those eyes, and the way they looked at her, as if she were the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

"I tried to save you from having to choose," she said softly. She'd felt that the only anguish stronger than her own must have been his. And while there was nothing she could do for herself, she'd tried to act on his behalf. She wanted him to be happy, just like she wanted for Henry.

"You did," he said, using his hand behind her neck to help her sit up. "When Emma told me that you were dead, I couldn't help but think of everything I would miss about you, and all of the things I had wanted that would never happen. I had dreams for the future, for us and for our boys. That's when I knew."

She'd shown him that there never had been a choice – he couldn't live without her. He'd lived without Marian, he knew he could survive it. He'd mourned her and laid his love for her to rest. She would always be a part of his life, but she was his past. Regina was his future.

"Knew what?" she asked as she laced her fingers through his.

"That my heart had already chosen you," he said. She could see herself reflected in his watery eyes. Her heart was still growing accustomed to beating again and already it felt so full it might burst. She could practically feel the darkness inside it starting to recede. His love was light, and it would help her reclaim what she'd lost.

"I'm sorry, Regina. I should have told you," he said softly and pressed his forehead to hers. "I'm in love with you."

She took his face in her hands and a tear of pure joy silently slid down her cheek. "I love you too," she said. The words she had feared uttering aloud for so long rolled off her tongue with ease. Professing her love to Daniel had been a death sentence for him, and because of that she had not let herself love again. Not until Henry, and her love for him had been the opening of a window in the high walls around her heart. For Robin, she created a door.

Emma heard a shuffle behind her and looked to see Marian, tears streaming down her cheeks, just before she turned away and disappeared.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Robin? I think there's something you might want to take care of," Emma said and jerked a thumb toward the door. She mouthed 'Marian' and his eyes grew wide. She'd followed them. Of course she had, she'd always been a stubborn woman who suffered from a terminal case of curiosity. He regretted that the chance to tell her the truth on his own terms was lost, but at least witnessing his and Regina's love break a curse would mean she could not deny reality.

"Go after her. I'll be alright," Regina said, a soft smile on her face. She had no fear of what might happen between them, and nothing would ever make her doubt his love. Robin kissed her forehead, thankful that he'd fallen for someone so understanding, then hurried after his wife.

"So…" Emma started, a small smile on her lips. "I guess you can't really be mad at me any more, huh?"

Regina swung her legs off of her perch and lowered herself to the ground slowly. Her body was rapidly waking up, but the last thing she wanted was to fall over and have to rely on Emma to help her up. She looked at the other woman and raised an eyebrow.

"I beg your pardon?" she asked.

"Well," Emma said, "it looks like instead of coming between you guys, I just brought you together." She felt pretty proud of herself, when all was said and done. She'd saved Marian's life and motivated Regina and Robin to profess their love for one another. She'd always known that doing the right thing would work out for the best. She stood with her hands in her back pockets and waited for the gratitude to rain down.

_No, you idiot, I did that_, Regina thought_._

"I suppose you're right," Regina said, forcing herself to smile, the insincerity of it being obvious. She had to change the subject before she said something she would regret later.

"What day is it? Does Henry know where I've been?" Regina brushed off the back of her dress and took a cautious step forward, testing her legs. She felt a keen need to see her son.

Emma shook her head. "It's Monday, and he's at school. All he knows is that I'm looking for you. He's worried about you, though." There would be time later for asking Regina just what in the hell she was thinking in bowing out of his life. It was not a subject Emma was going to forget any time soon. For the moment, though, she let it drop.

Regina nodded, ignoring the subtext in Emma's words. She was obviously unhappy with her for upsetting Henry. Considering the fact that Emma's opinion was at the bottom of her list of things she cared about, her disapproval did not bother Regina in the least.

"I trust that you can keep this between us," Regina said. "There's no point in upsetting Henry over something that's already over. Don't you agree?"

Even though Emma hated lying to Henry, she had to admit to herself that she had been doing it all day. So she nodded in agreement despite her misgivings. Besides, if she did tell him the truth, it would make her look petty, as if she were trying to sabotage his and Regina's relationship.

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go pick my son up from school, make his favorite dinner, and help him with his homework before tucking him into bed." Feeling sturdy once again, Regina walked past her and out of the room. She couldn't spend another second in that house of the dead.


	7. Chapter 7

It had taken nearly an hour of explaining and apologizing, but Henry had believed her story about missing their morning meetup because she had been with Robin. His asking her to meet him for an early breakfast so they could talk was the perfect cover story, not just because it was what Henry wanted to happen, but because they both knew that Robin was the only person who could make Regina forget, even for a second, about a prior commitment with her son.

Shortly after tucking Henry into bed she heard a knock on the front door. She opened it to find Robin holding a haphazard bouquet of wildflowers. They had reminded him of Regina – beautiful and untamable.

"May I?" he asked, and got his answer when she grabbed the lapel of his jacket and pulled him inside. She closed the door quietly, then led Robin into her office, where she took the flowers from him and laid them carefully on the coffee table. She would find a vase later. She turned around as his arms encircled her, barely giving her time to catch her breath before he kissed her. She hummed happily and draped her arms over his shoulders.

"How is she?" she asked with concern that she hoped sounded genuine. She had worried not for Marian, but for him and the emotional rollercoaster he had no choice but to ride. They had not been outside when she'd left the crypt, and that had been nearly eight hours ago. How long could it take to agree to end a marriage?

He released his hold on her to take her hand and walk them over to the couch to sit. The conversation with Marian had been long and emotionally exhausting. Half the time they hadn't said a word, he'd simply held her as she cried. When she'd told him that Emma had rescued her from Regina's dungeon he had been shocked. He thought she'd died at the hands of the Sheriff of Nottingham, but in truth she had escaped his clutches only to fall into those of the Evil Queen.

"When Regina lost her first love she had no light to cling to, as I did," he'd explained to Marian. "Who's to say that I wouldn't have ended up just like her, if I hadn't had Roland to bring me back from the brink, and the Dark One had shown up promising me the means to take revenge on those who'd taken you from me? It has taken Regina longer to find her way back from the dark abyss of grief but she has left it behind her. Her love for her son saved her, just as mine for Roland saved me. She and I have walked the same road, you see. She understands what I've been through and who I am, not who I was."

He'd held his resolve not to revisit the past, because he knew that it could not be changed. The Evil Queen was dead. Regina had buried her and let go of the pain that had given rise to her. Every day that she fought the darkness in her heart and chose to be a better person, a new queen was being born – one from love and happiness instead of vengeance. A queen capable of true love strong enough to break a sleeping curse. The Queen Mother.

"Naturally she's upset, but she understands," he said, laying one arm across the back of the couch. "It will take time for her, just as it did for us when we lost the ones we loved. But she will move on." She was a good woman, and he had confidence that when the time was right, she would find love again. She deserved to be as happy in her second chance as he was in his.

"Little John and I got her settled in a room at Granny's. Roland was very excited about staying there with her tonight. I think, eventually, things will work out for the best." It had broken his heart to see her crying, but his conscience had told him he was doing the right thing. True love was not something that you turn your back on. He was no longer the man that Marian had fallen in love with. His heart had changed and grown, and now it had found its match in Regina, whose heart bore similar scars to his own.

"I can't help but think about what you said about timing," Regina said, small lines forming between her eyebrows that, in his mind, he had started to call her 'thinking lines'. "It's unfortunate that the right time for us meant the wrong time for her."

He smiled crookedly. She'd taken the words right out of his mind. Marian had been taken out of time, and the consequences of that were being felt by them all. He exhaled a heavy sigh, releasing the last of the negative feelings with his breath. He was ready to start his new life with the woman he loved.

"She set me free to follow my heart, so I did... and it led me to your doorstep." He stood up and pulled her with him. Her thinking lines disappeared, replaced with the lines just above her eyebrows he associated with confusion. With a broad grin he swept her up into his arms.

"And now, milady, I am going carry you to your bedchamber and show you exactly what it means to be loved by a thief," he said in a very authoritative tone.

Regina giggled before she could stop herself. She had been so short-sighted to think of him as just a thief. "It's 'Your Majesty'," she replied, no hint of disdain in her voice, like the first time she'd said the words to him. "Be careful," she said. "We wouldn't want to wake Henry."

"Oh I wouldn't dream of it," he said, and she laughed even harder. As he carried her out of the office she buried her face in his shoulder to muffle her laughter. He delicately placed his feet on each step as he carried her up the stairs, overly conscious of every creak of the wood. She pressed her lips to his neck and playfully nipped at the tender flesh just below his ear. He growled in response and she pressed a finger to his lips to keep him silent.

She pointed the way to her bedrooms, and once inside he spun her around so she could nudge the door closed with her foot. She waved her hand and several candles burst to life around the room. There are advantages to being in love with a witch, he thought.

"You're certain Henry won't hear us?" he asked and she shook her head.

"He'd sleep through an earthquake," she replied as he gently set her down. She wasn't about to tell him that she'd done this many times with Graham. As an infant, Regina had kept the nursery immediately adjacent to her room. Once Henry had seemed old enough, she'd moved him to what she called his 'big boy' room at the other end of the hall to provide herself with the privacy necessary to continue Graham's late night visits. Since his death her bed had been empty, but not as empty as her heart before Henry had come into her life.

She watched the candlelight dance in Robin's eyes and felt as if it were her first time all over again. Robin was different, though, from any other man she'd allowed in her bed. She had been innocent when she'd married the king, and their relations, while pleasant enough, had never held any emotion. Graham had been passionate enough and more than eager to please, but she'd never forgotten that he only behaved that way because he was cursed. Robin loved her, and she loved him. He looked at her not just with desire but affection and admiration. In her eyes he saw her heart, and desired that even more than her body. It made giving it to him much more enjoyable.

Still, she was struck with sudden nervousness, standing next to the bed with him. Robin took her trembling hands in his and brought them to his lips. Pulling her to him he kissed her deeply and set her arms around his waist. She tasted like wine and beauty and he wanted more. He wanted – nay, he needed – to show her just how much he loved her. He couldn't touch her heart or her soul, but he would get as close as he could by treating her body like the precious vessel it was.

His hands ran up her bare arms and over her shoulders to clasp her perfect face. When his tongue slowly grazed along her bottom lip she shivered and responded in kind. Her hands rose to untuck his shirt and slide up his back. He shifted from one foot to the other as he worked off his boots. Robin's fingers carded through her soft, silky hair and around her back, slowly unzipping her dress – the same dress she'd been wearing since he'd woken her from the curse.

"I see you've learned how zippers work," she said with a smirk as he pulled the dress forward and off of her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor. His eyes drank in the sight of her in undergarments unlike anything he'd never seen before. There was no corset – her middle was bare. Black lace covered her top and bottom, artfully hiding the most enticing places. He reached his hands behind her back, only to find no laces there to untie. What was the blasted thing, magic? He wouldn't have been surprised - it did make her breasts look incredible.

"Yes, but not this bloody contraption. How do I untie it?" he asked. She chuckled softly and turned around so he could see.

"No laces, just hooks." She reached her arms up behind her back and demonstrated how to unhook back. She let him take care of pulling the straps off of her shoulders. His head dipped down to press a kiss to her shoulder.

"Now these I trust you can remove without my assistance," she said as she turned back around and hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her panties.

"Yes, I think I can manage," he said with a wry smirk. He lifted her hands from her waist, though, and placed them on his own. "But not yet."

He walked her through removing the rest of his clothes, then laid her down on the bed to finish with hers. His lips set her skin aflame wherever they touched, starting with her neck and travelling downward, pausing only to lightly tease at her nipples. It was odd for her, releasing control, letting him take the lead. She was used to being on top, pushing forward at a rapid pace, seeking her pleasure and nothing more.

She closed her eyes and let him kiss and touch where he pleased – and found that it more than pleased her. Just as she thought she might come undone he stopped, and when she opened her eyes he was lying next to her, gazing at her face. With two fingers he traced across her shoulder and down her collarbone.

"Stunning in every way," he murmured before leaning over her and kissing her deeply.

She ran her fingers through the hair at his temples and rolled onto her side to press herself against him. Heat radiated off of him in waves. One leg rose to hook over his hip, and she could that he was ready, pressed against her thigh.

"Those words weren't about me," she reminded him. He moved his mouth to her neck, kissing a path until he was suckling softly on her earlobe.

"Not when he used them. But now I am, because you are the most stunning woman I've ever known." To hear them from him meant more than any compliment Rumplestiltskin could ever give her. She no longer needed to be the most powerful witch. She only wanted what she had right in her hands.

Robin knew her well enough to deduce she would be more comfortable in the powerful position, and thus he pulled her on top of him as he rolled onto his back. The view from beneath her was even more incredible. As she slid down onto him they both groaned, and she closed her eyes once more.

"Regina," he gasped, reaching up to cup her cheek. "Open your eyes. Look at me."

That was when she learned the difference between the love of the young and the love of the experienced. What she'd felt for Daniel had been innocent, filled with hope and promise. This love for Robin, it was rooted in her very soul. It sang with shared trials and tribulations, of love lost and new love found. With one hand on her hip he began to guide her, slow and steady movements, their eyes locked together. She could feel what he felt, through the way he looked at her. She knew he could feel the same, and the love in her heart swelled and strengthened in proportion with the heat and passion in her body.

Without thinking she collapsed forward, snaked an arm around his neck and rolled them over, relinquishing herself to him completely. In her actions and in her eyes, she told him, 'I_'m yours_'. He lifted her legs up and laid her ankles up his shoulders, and with each of his thrusts he found that innermost bundle of ecstasy that had her crying out his name in the most restrained voice she could muster.

Her fingers clawed at the bedsheets, and still lost in his beautiful blue eyes she came undone with a groan from deep in her throat. The feel of her innermost muscles flexing around him dissolved what little control he had left and he let go, her name on his lips as he emptied into her.

That was the first time they made love. Soon after came a second time, that one slower and sweeter, intertwined with sweet nothings and repeated declarations of love.

Finally when they were both spent, they laid together under the comforter in each other's arms. Her head lay on his chest, listening to the steadily slowing beat of his heart. His hand played with her hair until it came to rest on her shoulder when he drifted off to sleep. As she listened to the heart that loved her, she thought about the events of the prior days, and she smiled. There were few feelings better than when an intricately designed plot goes even better than originally planned.

Emma bringing Marian back from the past had thrown her for a loop, but she'd soon recovered. She wasn't the type to give up someone that she loved, especially when she knew in her heart that he belonged with her. Anyone who knew what she had gone through to keep Henry would have seen that, but they had been too preoccupied with fear that she would return to being evil to stop and think.

The task was to get Marian out of the way without hurting her. Whatever she did, she couldn't risk the relationship and trust she'd built with Henry. As she'd searched for an answer, an old standby forced its way to the front of her mind. After what had happened with Henry she was reluctant to go the way of the sleeping curse, but she had no other viable ideas. Condemning Marian to an eternity of sleep would have removed her from all of their lives, but Regina had learned the first time around that any curse could be broken. The last thing she wanted was for Robin to wake her, and show both of them that he still loved her. And so she realized there was only one option – to use it on herself. Once she'd located the pin amongst Zelena's things, the first hurdle was cleared. Next came the letter.

If Robin had looked when they were downstairs, he would have found the ashes of her discarded drafts of her 'suicide note' in the fireplace. They'd started out filled with anger, then heartbreak, but neither accomplished what she needed. Snow White, of all people, turned out to hold the answer. She had taken the first sleeping curse as a sacrifice, to save everyone else in the kingdom from Regina's wrath. Why couldn't she claim to be doing the same?

It was beyond perfect. Emma would find the note, and hide it from Henry, that was predictable enough. And every moment after that would be torture for her, which was no less than she deserved for forcing Regina to take such drastic measures in the first place. She likely tell Robin first, because she wouldn't want to upset Henry unless she absolutely had to. As soon as Robin saw the pin he'd realize what it meant, he'd come wake her, and Henry would never even know what had happened. Two of the three opinions that had the most impact on her life would never know that she had not, in fact, intended to sacrifice herself. She would appear to be a saint in their eyes, and to the third, he'd never know that she'd been willing to give him up. Because the truth was, Emma would get Henry only when Regina truly was cold and dead.

She never would have guessed that Marian would be there to witness true love's kiss. That had been the icing on the cake. She couldn't deny what she'd seen with her own two eyes. Regina had thought she'd have to wait much longer than a few hours for Robin to convince Marian of his love for someone else. She couldn't believe her luck in that aspect.

She drifted off to sleep wrapped in warmth and love. Regina would never forget the time she'd spent under the sleeping curse, but she would do it again without hesitation. After all, Robin was hers, and she had only done what was necessary to make that obvious to everyone. She had taken a page from Henry's book, and _believed_ – in Robin and in true love.

Marian had come into their lives and threatened to take away not only Regina's second chance, but Robin's as well. She was the villain of this story, and she deserved a fate worse than death - to continue to live, and without the man she loved.

Because not having someone? That's the worst curse imaginable.


End file.
